Archive of Our Own ^beta

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"Merlin-it's 9 am already, get up", Arthur calls, on a wonderful Sunday morning. Merlin feels too tired to get up, but after the doctor strictly told him to correct his sleep schedule, it's not like he has that much of a choice. Well, atleast his crush is the one waking him up- he stops that train of thought, it's way too early for Merlin's pining. He sighs and gets up, cursing the universe, the doctor, his own past self for visiting said doctor, anyone but his roommate and best friend who he's in love with desperately but knows that there's no chance there. Ugh, what a cliche.

Merlin drags his sleepy self to the kitchen. and starts preparing breakfast. Meanwhile, Arthur is also preparing breakfast, consisting of chicken and rice, well, mostly chicken. "Arthur- you do realise the human body requires nutrients other than protein to survive, right?" says Merlin, while he empties out a bag of lettuce into a bowl. Hearing this, Arthur looks at Merlin's bowl, "I think the doctor told you to fix your eating habits by eating healthy, not by eating like a herbivore" he muses. "Seriously- you're going to need to put something in there for flavour,maybe some macros-"

Merlin cuts him off, "Honestly, I can't be bothered with all that. most i've got the energy to add to this is salad dressing." He rummages through the kitchen for anything to make his lettuce more palatable, but there's only an empty bottle of salad cream in the fridge. "Well, guess I gotta rawdog this salad today" he says defeated.

On hearing this,Arthur almost spits out the water he was drinking. "Merlin- what in the everloving fuck did you just-" he stops, reminding himself that Merlin is a grown adult, capable of using whatever words he likes, even if they are this- vulgar. He shakes his head, and gets up to help Merlin make himself some salad dressing.

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"Arthur, are you sure this thing is used for working out? It looks like it would snap me in half!" says Merlin, while scowling at the affronting piece of gym equipment. Ugh. Why did he have to come to the gym again?

As he looks at Arthur streching, his glorious back muscles flexing under that flimsy tank top of his, Merlin realises why he came here. Right. Mmm, wait we're getting distracted, we're supposed to be working out.

After streching, Arthur turns to Merlin and asks,"Where's your headphones Merlin? You're not planning on listening to the godawful gym music while working out, are you?". Merlin turns a little red, he'd have brought his headphones, but before leaving he accidentally saw Arthur shirtless, which flustered him so much that he forgot to bring his headphones.

"I forgot them" says Merlin sheepishly, then adds,"Guess I gotta rawdog today's workout". As soon as he says that, Arthur turns a little red and gives him a look, so do some other people at the gym who heard him. Arthur goes to say something, then decides it's not worth it."Alright Merlin, come here, let me help you with that", says Arthur, fighting the blush on his cheeks.

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"Gwen said you guys have a mediaeval history exam tomorrow, how's the preparation coming along?", asks Gwaine as he sits beside Merlin in the library.

"Oh crap, we had an exam?", asks Merlin, suddenly terrified. He'd been too busy catching up with the syllabus (aka having his books open in front of him while scrolling through Arthur's Tiktok thrist-traps).

Arthur, who'd been studying beside Merlin up until now, interjects,"Merlin's been glued to his phone too much recently to study, haven't you?". Hearing this, Merlin blushes, then mumbles "Guess I gotta rawdog this exam too, wish me luck guys".

On hearing this, Gwaine's eyes widen, and he's about to tell Merlin the implications of his words, when Arthur fixes him with a Glare™. Gwaine then decides it's not worth it, and leaves it at that.

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Merlin's sulking at the pub. Honestly, why do things like this happen to him literally all the time? "It's alright Merlin, it's not your fault Cenred cancelled on the date. He was a tosser anyways, you deserve way better", says Lance to comfort Merlin. Okay, maybe Cenred was a bit of a prick, but Merlin was looking forward to this night.

Sigh. "Well, I guess I gotta rawdog pub night, watching all you people coupled up while being the only single person in the group."says Merlin.

Lance raises an eyebrow on hearing that, and tentatively asks,"Merlin, are you sure you're using that word correctly?". "I believe so, I heard it on Tiktok. It means doing something without much preparation, right?" asks Merlin. Lance explains, "No Merlin- more along the lines of doing someone without preparation, you know? Without protection, that is".

Oh. Oh fuck no. "What?? I didn't know that ohmygod, I've been saying that phrase so often recently, this is so fucking embarrassing!" says Merlin, while covering his rapidly reddening face with his hands. He's been saying this around Arthur a lot too, and that makes him redden further because nothing is as embarrassing as acting like an idiot in front of your crush! Merlin feels like his image is never recovering from this.

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Later that night, they're playing Truth or Dare. As the bottle spins and lands on Merlin, and Merlin chooses dare, Gwaine dares him to take a shot of vodka. That cheeky bastard, he knows Merlin has a bad alcohol tolerance, especially with strong liquor.

"Well, guess I gotta rawdog this shot", he says and quicly downs the shot. Only after drinking, he realises what he said. Crap, it's like reflex for him to say it at this point, he's got to stop saying it now that he knows what it means!

The realisation actually makes him choke on his shot and cough. He's feeling tipsy already, and now he's embarrassed himself in front of Arthur twice. Ugh, he's got to go back to the dorms. He tells his friends he's not feeling up to it, and gets up to leave.

Seeing this, Arthur gets up too, abandoning his date for the night to help Merlin reach their shared dorms safely. He makes a half- assed excuse, and quickly leaves with Merlin.

As they're walking back to the dorms together, Merlin speaks up,"Arthur, I need to apologise to you. And Gwaine. Maybe our whole friend group. And anyone else who heard me say that- oh my god I'm such an embarrassment to society". Quietly giggling at Merlin's tendency to ramble when drunk, Arthur asks,"That's alright, but what are you so mortified about?".

"I kept saying the word 'rawdog' in random sentences, that's what I'm so embarrassed about. I swear, I wasn't trying to make you look bad at the gym, or at the library! It's just that I heard the phrase on Tiktok being used like that, so I started using it like that. I didn't even know what it meant till Lance told me, which by the way, you could've said something too you know? But I know now, and I swear I'm never going to even open Tiktok anymore-" before Merlin could continue rambling, Arthur, overcome with his endearment for Merlin, pulls him close and kisses him.

They stand there for a few minutes, just kissing each other languidly. As they pull apart a little, Merlin asks,"Does this mean you like me back?". Arthur laughs a little and answers, "Yes, obviosly. I adore you Merlin, especially when you ramble on and on about something while drunk, it's so sweet." They kiss again, and walk back to their dorms hand in hand, feeling giddy and excited for their relationship now.